SAN MARTIN TILCAJETE, Mexico -- On the morning we drove into the tiny village, there was no one in sight. From one end of the dusty, narrow road to the other, it seemed as if everyone had taken flight from the heat -- or perhaps had found refuge inside their homes, where it was bound to be cooler.

Fortunately, our second guess was correct. Beyond the front doors, inside their shady patios and workshops, the good people of San Martin Tilcajete were busily carving, sanding and painting wooden objects of all shapes and sizes.

When my friends and I walked in -- at the invitation of the residents, who seemed to know Pablo, our driver and tour guide, quite well -- we were greeted by nods and smiles. The artists clearly were too preoccupied to offer more.

In their hands, they held alebrijes -- wooden figurines of snakes, lizards, armadillos, crosses, picture frames and other objects that are among the most popular folk art in Mexico. Artists meticulously shape each figure, then smooth and paint them with bright colors and intricate dots and stripes to create a one-of-a-kind piece.

San Martin Tilcajete and San Antonio Arrazola -- small pueblos south of the city of Oaxaca in south central Mexico -- are renowned for their alebrijes. The state of Oaxaca is one of the country's most artistic communities, despite also being one of the most economically disadvantaged, with exceptional examples of folk and modern art displayed in shops and galleries.

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Near the city of Oaxaca, you can find towns where artists specialize in tapestries, rugs, clay figures and shiny black pottery known as barro negro. One of the great pleasures of visiting Oaxaca is riding a bus -- public or tour, it doesn't matter -- to the towns to watch the artists work, then buying directly from them, usually at discounted prices.

City prices inflated

The city is full of crafts shops, but prices are often inflated, and I was warned not to purchase woven rugs from stores because they would probably be made made from synthetic dyes, not the natural dyes used by weavers in Teotitlan del Valle and Santa Ana del Valle. I waited and bought two colorful, intricately designed rugs for 1,300 pesos (about $128).

My primary interest, however, was the alebrijes. I bought my first one about 15 years ago while on a trip to Arizona, and they struck me as wonderful objets d'art and affordable, whimsical collectibles. But finding them in the United States isn't easy. Some crafts stores that sell Mexican art might stock them, but the selection is usually small and the cost is high. In Oaxaca, I found no fewer than 20 shops where they could be purchased.

Visiting one of the villages where the carvings are made was a special treat. In the spacious patio where Marcelo Hernandez Vasquez and his two sisters worked, we watched most of the process take place. Hernandez, who has been making alebrijes for 18 years, expertly wielded a small machete to hack away at a piece of copal, the wood used to create the objects.

With the immense popularity of the wooden figures, copal has become harder to find in Oaxaca. Artists must walk farther into the woods to locate it, or they must bring it in from other villages -- although their suppliers are now beginning to carve themselves. The wood is soft and damp when first cut, making it easier for craftsmen to shape, then is dried in the sun before being sanded.

Carvers have been making alebrijes for about 50 years, but they were typically given to children as toys. Tourists discovered them only about 20 years ago, and their popularity has grown to the point that many artists have become well known -- and well paid.

In San Martin, a town of fewer than 1,000 residents about 16 miles south of Oaxaca off Highway 175, they are more than just the main source of income for the 40 or so families who make them; they also keep generations together. In most cases, the male head of household does the cutting and shaping, the children do the sanding and women do the painting, which requires a steady hand and a colorful imagination. Grandparents, cousins, nieces and nephews might also be asked to help, and families often work 15-hour days to fill orders or meet deadlines.

While we watched, Hernandez's sisters, Ana and Marta Bricia, sat at a square, wooden table working quietly. In front of them were small jars of acrylic paints in various colors, which they used to decorate the animal figures they held. Nearby, two large rooms were full of alebrijes -- cats, giraffes, children's chairs -- all marked for sale.

Carver started young

Across the street, Efrain Fuentes and his wife, Silvia, labored away in similar fashion. Fuentes, 22, has become something of a celebrity among woodcarvers in Oaxaca. At 13, he was featured in an exhibit in Santa Fe, N.M., and he proudly showed me a book on alebrijes in which his photograph and work appeared.

The rear wall of Fuentes' workshop was covered with colorfully painted lizards of all sizes and colors. He also had several large pieces, including angels and cats, with prices close to $100. The more well-known the artist, the more you're likely to pay, although smaller pieces can cost as little as $3. I purchased a medium-sized lizard for $10 from Fuentes and considered it a steal.

North of San Martin, on the road back to the city of Oaxaca, we stopped at San Bartolo Coyotepec. It's the only town where artists make the glistening black pottery called barro negro. Although many village craftsmen now shape, the process was created by Dona Rosa Real Mateo, who died in 1980 but passed it on to her son, Valente Nieto.

Nieto, who is 74, still uses the same method practiced by his mother, shaping pots and vases by hand over two large saucers rather than a potter's wheel. The family is Zapotec, an indigenous people that has used the identical process for hundreds of years.

But the pottery is coveted because of its shiny appearance. The local clay turns black because it contains iron oxide and because smoke is trapped inside the pit kiln during firing. The pots and vases are decorative only -- the clay doesn't hold water -- so Nieto uses small bamboo reeds to cut intricate holes or designs into many of his pieces. He gladly offers a demonstration when tour groups pull into the parking lot.

Nieto's mother initially used an old Coke bottle to obtain the shiny look, rubbing the side of the bottle against the surface of the hardened clay pottery. A piece of quartz worked better, she found, and her son still uses the same stone in his pieces.

Eventually, others in San Bartolo discovered Dona Rosa's secret, so she began signing her work as a way to distinguish them from copies. More than 50 families make the pottery, and you can find it virtually everywhere in Oaxaca, but the authentic pieces are from Alfareria Dona Rosa on Avenida Juarez. They're inexpensive, too -- I picked up two medium-sized vases for 30 pesos each, about $3.

The tapestries made in Teotitlan del Valle are more expensive but worth it if you're looking for a unique wall hanging or area rug. The town of 4,600 is about 15 miles east of Oaxaca (a short drive north of Highway 190) and gives visitors an opportunity to see how the dyes are created from alfalfa, moss, tree bark and the indigo plant, just as the Zapotecs have done for hundreds of years. Particularly interesting is the bright red produced from the cochineal bug, which is found in the nopal cactus. If you visit, make sure you find a shop that gives demonstrations showing how the blood from the squashed bug turns Ferrari red.

Looms for weaving rugs

Rugs are woven on large looms, and craftsmen make them in varying sizes. The most expensive contain geometric patterns or paintings by well-known artists; some cost hundreds of dollars and are intended to be displayed, although many are for everyday use.

Like alebrijes and barro negro, making tapestries is a family venture. I visited the Gutierrez Galeria factory and store on Avenida Juarez, where the Gutierrez family has been weaving for more than 70 years.

The Gutierrezes -- there are about 20 of them who have various jobs, from weaving to selling -- have 10 looms and work about eight hours a day to produce rugs, which can take from three days to six weeks to make, depending on style and size.

Driving through Teotitlan del Valle, you can see tapestries waving in the wind -- a sure sign you've come to the right place. With good bargaining skills, you can usually find a good deal.